


Insomnia

by TheLavenderNarwhal



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles, slight trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27608912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLavenderNarwhal/pseuds/TheLavenderNarwhal
Summary: Why the heck am I here, Dex questioned himself from his side of the room. Who on this whole forsaken Council thought it was a good idea to bring a nervous technology train wreck into the nobility, let alone to a very important inter-species meeting? They already tried that with Sophie, and it clearly didn't go very well.I mostly wrote this to outline one of my many headcanons and show some love for my favorite kotlc ship.  For reference, this is roughly set after Legacy when some treaties would need to rewritten and our boys just need a break.
Relationships: Dex Dizznee/Keefe Sencen
Kudos: 10





	Insomnia

Why the heck am I here, Dex questioned himself from his side of the room. Who on this whole forsaken Council thought it was a good idea to bring a nervous technology train wreck into the nobility, let alone to a very important inter-species meeting? They already tried that with Sophie, and it clearly didn’t go very well.  
Ok, that whole thing wasn’t her fault and she was kind of the only one to figure out what was going on at Lumenaria, but the point still stands. To put it simply, Dex figured that the day officials needed to bring in a bunch of teenagers to make smart decisions was the day they were all royally screwed. He could barely handle working with a few preteens he calls siblings for a couple of hours, so working with world leaders for a multi-day conference was out of the question.  
These were the kinds of thoughts that swirled within Dex’s head making sleep a lost cause. Although that wasn’t a new situation. All of the group were starting to develop eye bags that rivaled both Sophie and Edline’s from stress-based insomnia and were getting a little too used to running on four hours of rest. It was not a fun time and it wasn’t getting better.  
The bigger problem was that Dex couldn’t do any of the normal things that would cure some of his nerves. There’s no chance of taking a walk with everyone needing to stay in their rooms for safety and right now Dex couldn’t risk bugging his current roommate; Keefe. Another one of the things that kept him up at night.  
How could things get so complicated between them so fast? It seemed like only days had passed since Dex could have counted on Keefe knocking on his door in the middle of the night and vice versa in their treehouse bunkhouses whenever the dark was getting to them. Now it was lucky if anyone asked him something that wasn’t his gadgets. Keefe was the only one that would talk to Dex just because, but lately, things have been too awkward to talk normally about anything. He was one of the only people that made Dex feel like others still cared about him outside of what he could give them.  
With that depressing thought, Dex was back at square one. He just wanted to wake up the next day, get these negotiations over with, and go home. At least the triplets couldn’t get rid of him.  
Dex flopped onto his back, tangling the heavy comforter of his bed with his legs and letting him see the expanses of his shared room. He quickly realized that that was a mistake. Night was always the worst time for him when the darkness covered his vision and his mind placed whatever machinations it could come up with into the empty space. This time, it was Umber only now she wasn’t under the metal door where the Neverseen had left her, but stood over him, face disfigured to the point that no one would be able to identify her from it and limbs bent to the point that they’d straight again. The final mocking element was the dusted, ragged cloak with a still pristine eye that haunted all of his friends’ memories.   
His breath caught and quickened, but something made him unable to move. He rationally knew that she wasn’t there, but her mangled form would never fully leave his head and now she would continue to torment him. Never had death been placed so plainly before Dex’s eyes. One moment and a life was gone.   
“Dex? Are you awake?”  
The apparition faded out, but this was a different problem. Did he really have to go wake Keefe up? “Ummm...yeah.” His voice barely raised over a whisper.   
Light footsteps padded across the room and with now adjusted eyes, the shadowy features of Keefe’s face pricked at Dex’s sight. “I can’t sleep.”   
Without missing a beat, Dex wiggled himself over to one side of the bed leaving space for a certain blonde to climb in. They had done this song and dance before back at Alluveterre and Dex was relieved that he didn’t need to initiate this time even though he needed the company tonight. But, Keefe wouldn’t be doing this without reason especially after everything that’s happened.  
“What’s going on?” No reason for sutallities.  
“Oh, just nighttime being the bane of my existence. Nothing much.”  
No one’s here but me, Dex thought. You don’t need to sugarcoat and I won’t go full parent on you. “Be a bit more specific.”  
He sighed. In cases like this, Dex wouldn’t take no for an answer. Keefe needed to vent or else he’d have an emotional breakdown sooner rather than later and that isn’t fun for anyone. “It’s just weird to be here after what happened last time all of the world leaders were together.”  
“I never got to know what you were doing there.” No one fully explained the build-up to Lumemaria biting the dust and Dex didn’t want to risk bringing up bad memories by asking.  
“Honestly, I had no clue what I was doing there either. I thought that the best place for me to be was in a cave right off the side of the island, so I could sweep in if needed, but all I did was cause myself to be shivering and alone all night wondering if the black snuggy cult was going to shank me.”  
As much as Keefe tried to phrase it as a joke, that had to be one of his worst nights and he’s had some pretty bad ones. Whether it was his friends, crazy murders, or an ogre princess, Keefe was never fully alone in the dark and he didn’t realize until that cave how much he needed those people around. He needed something to keep him grounded so his thoughts wouldn’t delve into the wonderful land of empath’s most horrifying nightmares.  
“At least that part’s over. You can’t get rid of us that easily.” Dex noted.  
Keefe stretched out pulling his arms over his head and being careful not to bump the person next to him. He was already getting into Dex’s space, so it wouldn’t be super nice to take up more. “I’ve figured that one out. Even the Council found out that all of us are a package deal.”  
“For better or for worse. It kind of feels like they’re testing fate.”  
“Heh, we know plenty about that.” Dex’s breathing hitched slightly. Yeah, shouldn’t have said that.  
Dex tried to rip his thoughts away from the day that was threatening to unfold in his head. Think of good times.   
At this time, that wasn’t too much of a challenge although those memories were more than a little painful to reflect on. It was not long into the group’s stay at Alluveterre when Keefe was told about his mom’s supposed demise and his insomnia was really kicking into high gear. Everyone knew that he was slipping with his blatant disregard for his own self-care, but it was only clear to Dex how bad it was when he could hear the pacing steps in the room across from him that went long into the night. What was surprising was when those footsteps found their way to Dex’s door.  
“Were you asleep?” The boy in the entrance asked being tired no question, but now it was like the color was being bleached straight out of him.  
“Umm..no. What’s up?” It didn’t matter that Dex was just about ready to fall over. Keefe needed help and he didn’t seem to be going to anyone else.  
Keefe raised a hand to the back of his head holding the nape of his neck. “It’s a long story. I just don’t want to be alone right now.”  
“Ok. Wanna sit down?” He nodded in response. Dex was certain that this was a side of him that only Sophie had seen; no jokes or caveat, just exhaustion. The two of them perched on the side of Dex’s bed not with Keefe not wanting to impose any more than he already had and the other not wanting to make things too weird. It’s not like they’d never been close before if the ride to the Black Swan’s base was any proof, but it had brought up some interesting feeling that Dex wasn’t quite sure what to do with.  
“Sorry. You probably didn’t want a depressed kid at one in the morning.”  
“Nah. From one sad person to another, it’s really fine.” Dex reassured. He’d thought about doing this on some hard nights, but he chickened out before he could leave his room. “Do you want to talk about it?”  
The question didn’t do much to calm Keefe’s nerves. “There’s not much to talk about. I don’t care what happened to my mom, but that doesn’t stop my brain from imagining the worst situations.”   
“Brains are stupidly mean sometimes.”  
“Heh, your brain helps you all the time. We wouldn’t be getting anything done around here if it weren’t for you.” Dex frantically hoped that the dark was masking the rapidly developing brush that was flooding his face.  
Yeah, he’s not that lucky. “You’re exaggerating. We wouldn’t be doing half the things we did if you didn’t push us into action or I guess pushed Forkle.”  
“Frankly, we’d be a lot better off if I didn’t do that.” Keefe’s defeated laugh rung from him.   
It stung to hear him like this. No one deserved to have this much life crush out of them and Keefe had already been through the wringer even before this chaos thanks to pro-parenting skills. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”  
A confused looked passed the words as Dex attempted to swallow his nerves and stupid crush. Now’s not the time. “I have no idea where any of us would be if you didn’t do the things you do. In case you haven’t noticed, 90% of the government is sticking their heads in the ground and someone needs to keep us going. Most of the time, you’re that person.”  
“That’s some high praise, Dexy.” Both of their faces were reaching levels of redness that were only seen in the hair of those anime characters Sophie would show them.  
“Well..umm, it’s true”  
The sounds of wind and insects fluttered outside of the window blanketed over the silence stopping it from becoming too uncomfortable. Keefe was still very much on edge and who wouldn’t be, but the gentle moonlight filtering through the canopy seemed to ease the worrying. Plus, it just seemed like Keefe needed to be around someone. It a lot easier for bad memories to slip in when you’re left completely to your own thoughts.  
Dex wasn’t unfamiliar with late-night visitors. The triplets had a tendency to sneak into his room because no matter how they covered it, they weren’t immune to the bullying from students and certain teachers alike. Unlike that, this situation didn’t really feel like helping a bro through something. Things like that have been happening a lot more often ever since they were all taking a break from society; little looks that made it feel like butterflies were having seizures in Dex’s stomach, Keefe wanting to spend time with him just because and he’d been returning many of those gestures.  
“Earth to Dex?” Keefe poked the person in question’s arm. “Are you good?”  
“Yeah.”  
Keefe flopped back onto the bedsheets crossing his arms behind his head like he was really settling in. Not like Dex would kick him out anyway. “You’ve got to be really tired. You were just staring at a wall for five minutes.”  
“Oh, sorry.” Real clever response right there. Very smooth.  
“Nah. I’m the one that came here at unholy hours of the morning. Spacing out is a given.” Dex joined the flopped back gang as what time it was really sunk in. “As much of a pain it is to be awake right now, you have to admit that it’s kind of a cool feeling.”  
Dex adjusted his arms so they wouldn’t be glued to his side and turned his eye to Keefe also realizing that both of them were donning their fuzzy PJs. “I’m not sure I get what you’re saying.”  
“Well, it’s like you’re the only one awake and everything’s quiet. No one else is doing anything but you and time almost stops.”  
“You’ve been thinking about this for a while.”  
Keefe smiled in a small and gentle way that was only directed at himself. “I guess. It is when I have the most time on my hands anyway.”  
“No wonder you’ve been looking so tired.” Dex commented, taking sharp notice of the discolored skin that hung under his eyes over the past week. It was a freaking miracle that the guy didn’t just pass out on the spot.  
“It’s not that big a deal.”  
Dex rolled his eyes. “Then sleep for once if not for yourself, but for the sake of how worried we all are.” He turned over so his stare was facing Keefe where he couldn’t avoid it to see how the latter tensed up at his words. “I know that nightmares suck and your brain can be insanely mean to you, but you’re already running yourself into the ground.”  
“Well, good to know that the Tech Master cares.” Ice blue eyes directed to any area that wasn’t the boy in front of him. As if that would work.  
“Of course I care and because of that, you are going to sleep tonight.”  
Static shot through the other person as fear emerged and dissipated within a short moment to the point that Keefe probably didn’t think Dex could pick up on. Near consistent worries of a figure looming in every corner busted onto the forefront of his thoughts causing him to question how he even got to this room in the first place without chickening out. Getting to knock out for a few hours sounded great, but Keefe was clueless on how to calm his mind enough to do that in the first place. “I can’t.”  
“Still don’t want to be alone?” He asked calmly. Keefe nodded, still avoiding eye contact at all costs. “Then scooch.”  
Dex, not wanting to fully get up, crawled over to the top of his bed signaling Keefe to follow while he lifted back the cover. Whether or not this dude was sleeping in his room or not didn’t matter so much as if he just dozed off for some time, so ignoring the raging storm of winged creatures forming a hurricane in his stomach, Dex went on with what he needed to do.  
“Y’know, there are better ways to--”  
“I’ve literally shared eight square inches of breathing space with you, so I don’t want to hear it.” Pinkness becoming more and more noticeable by the second. Thankfully, Keefe knew better than to point that out.  
Instead, he let out a small laugh before taking the spot offered to him. “Okay then. Just...goodnight.” Pulling the covers out around Keefe’s shoulders, he curled up tucking his knees to his chest resting his head on Dex’s arm for whatever warmth he could get, ignoring the way that his emotions pinged all over the place because frankly, he was too tired to care.   
And now he was left wondering how he screwed that up so badly.  
Keefe was clearly no telepath, but the thoughts running through the other’s head were easy to identify by the shift in his body language. If the sandy blonde could go back in time, that moment would be one of his first stops with how it fricked up his relationships with one of the best people he knew. Nothing makes him look back and think what an idiot he was, and Keefe has done more than his fair share of dumb things.  
It had still been pretty early in the day when Keefe had shown up to the crystalline house buried in his own nervousness. It hadn’t been very long since he’d gotten back from his few months of hell in Neverseen land, but he knew that he had to get this over with before Dex got any false hope. That knowledge didn’t stop his insides from twisting into alchemy models no matter how much he didn’t want it to. Just get this over with.  
A single round of knocks echoed through the front hall followed by a pair of light footsteps leading to the front door swinging open way too quickly for Keefe’s liking. He forced his eyes to meet the slightly shorter boy without a pained expression entering his face. Dex really didn’t deserve this. “Hey. How are you doing?” He asked gesturing for Keefe to come in.   
There wasn’t a good answer. “Umm… interesting, I guess.”  
“Fair. It’s been pretty crazy.” The tension was close to being visible in the room because even if Dex didn’t know what Keefe was really here for, he definitely understood that Keefe was very on edge just from what went down in the last few days. It’s not easy to watch a sparkling government build explode before your eyes.  
“Yeah.” Why is this so difficult? “Hey, I need to talk to you about something.”  
“What’s up?”  
There was no easy way to say this. Words that Keefe knew he had to say no matter how much it pained him with the added bonus of there being no clear way to break up with someone you never actually got the chance to date. “I need some space...from you.”  
Dex didn’t say anything for a bit like he was mulling over the statement, careful to not take it the wrong way, but also not let too much of a reaction seep through. “Okay. You might want to explain.”  
Deep breaths. “I can’t give people more ways to attack me. If someone found out that we were… they wouldn’t let me near official work until I’m five hundred and even that’d be dicey.”   
“So, I shouldn’t be hurting your reputation anymore.” Why did he need to sound so cold and betrayed? Why did this need to be so hard?   
What made it worse is that Keefe couldn’t deny how right he was. “I swear, it’s nothing with you. I’ve screwed up my own reputation already, but Sophie and the gang need me and I can’t get put on house arrest right now.”   
“We also need you to stop hurting yourself! I completely get it if you don’t want to be around me. That’s not a new concept, but you can’t keep denying yourself to make everyone happy.”   
Keefe ran his hand through his now fluffed hair pull slightly on the roots. “I have to. No one else is going to get me out of this, so I can’t make it worse. I can’t let feelings get in the way.”  
Dex stared at Keefe for a good amount of time like he was trying to decipher a hidden meaning while his feature tightened into a cross between a scowl and a grimace. Maybe he was waiting for Keefe to add something, back tread on his rejection, there was nothing else he could say. There was no way Keefe could retract or else he wouldn’t have the guts to leave when he inevitably would have to for a second time, but he also didn’t want to be the next name on the list of people to leave Dex in the dust.  
“Fine. It’s your choice and if I’m hurting you that much then you should go.” Dex turned to the end of the parlor as Keefe without thinking reached out for his hand desperate to not let him walk away thinking that this was his fault. The other looked back sharply jerking his hand to his side, red starting to rim his eyes. Why did it have to go this way?  
Keefe wanted like nothing else to pull Dex into the biggest bear hug physically possible and tell him to forget everything he said because it was so many layers of stupid that it was a miracle that any words were understandable. That he wasn’t the one hurting him or being a burden or anything that people have called him in the past, but instead Keefe turned away as well.  
“I’m sorry.”  
It would only be a few days later that Keefe would hear that Dex had confessed to Sophie. He would have never seen that one coming but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Keefe pushed him to get all of the rejection done in one fail swoop. He hadn’t even liked Sophie in over a year now and Keefe was practically haunted by the two people that his emotions just couldn’t let go of. Of course, there wasn’t a chance he would come out about that now.   
He couldn’t take it back or explain no matter how it pained him because Keefe already made the choice and now he had to live with it even when Sophie’s emotional obviousness didn’t help the situation in the slightest. So, all he could do was try to go back to normal; jokes, teasing, burying red flags.  
As one could assume, Keefe’s sleeping habits didn’t get any better.  
Both of the boys’ eyes were well adjusted to their shared room now in contemplative silence with them filtering through memories. They were stubborn as anyone around them could tell, so it was a mini competition to see who would be the first to speak up. Too many things had to be said, but the pair was clueless on how to bring it up. Well, Keefe had some idea.  
“I was really dumb.” Might as well get that out of the way.  
“Yeah.” Dex replied. If Keefe really wanted to dive straight into this mess then he wasn’t going to stop him, but Dex wasn’t planning on beating around the bush. “But you did have a reason.”  
“Reason or not, I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”   
The technopath moved on to his side, bringing his knee closer to his chest to where Keefe had to meet his eyes, being aware that eye-contact was pretty much his weakness. It’s a lot harder to mask when someone’s right in front of you, which is exactly what was needed at the time. “You really need to take some more time for yourself. How are you supposed to be a knight in shining armor if you keep forgetting about your own needs?”  
He smiled a bit at the comment. “Knight in shining armor? And who might I be protecting?”  
“No one if you don’t let yourself chill for once.”  
“You wound me.” Keefe flopped a hand across his forehead. “Aren’t I guarding you against the terrors of the night?”  
Says the person that came to Dex from nightmares not even a half-hour earlier. “I’m sure Lovise and Ro would disagree, meaning you can conk out too.”   
“Well… in that case, could I still try?” Even in the dark, Dex could see rosy color starting to fill Keefe’s cheeks opposite to how he usually is in these kinds of situations.  
It took all of his willpower not to laugh a tiny bit. “Do you want hugs?” Keefe continued to evade Dex’s playful stare, yet he still nodded letting the other snuggle his side up against him. In this case, allowing Keefe to lead here would be the best idea to keep some of his pride intact and so if he needed space, that’d be there too.   
Keefe didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity. “Someone’s very cuddly today.”  
“You can’t say anything. Both of us are so many degrees of touch starved, it’s probably not healthy.” Dex didn’t think his sibling’s “attacks of love” counted in that department.  
“I want to say you’re wrong, but…” The empath nudged his head in the second person’s shoulder and placed a peck on his cheek. “We’ll figure that out tomorrow.”   
“Umm… That works. Good night.”  
“‘Night.”

**Author's Note:**

> And they woke up the next morning to Ro teasing them mercilessly. Ok, so, I wanted to get this out before Unlocked released because for all I know, something in there could contradict this whole thing. I've had this headcanon for a while and I'm just happy to finally write it all out with some extra fluff for good measure.


End file.
